Suns’ Mike Budenholzer talks return to Atlanta

The beginning Phoenix Suns‘ The five-game road trip means a return to Atlanta for the head coach, Mike Budenholzer. The first-year coach began his coaching career with the Atlanta Hawks. He led the franchise to a 60-win season in 2015 before being fired. He then left to be the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks.

From there, his success unraveled. He helped Milwaukee win the 2021 NBA Finals against his current team, the Suns. Not to mention, Budenholzer had four of his five 50+ win seasons, going 60-22 in his first season. However, he was fired at the end of the 2022-23 season. After a year off, he returned home to Arizona.

As a Holbrook native, he explained that he grew up a Suns fan. during the summer, Budenholzer and Sansi signed the contract to be the next coach. Despite the tough stretch, Phoenix bounced back to a 19-19 record. While sitting in the press conference room, he explained to AZCentral’s Duane Rankin, Fr how much the city means to him.

“It’s been a great five years here,” Budenholzer said. “A lot of great people.” Lots of great players. The organization was excellent for me. Walking Park Piedmont. This was a special place and a special time in my life.”

Budenholzer was one of the early students of Gregg Popovic’s coaching staff. He was an assistant coach with Popović in the San Antonio Spurs. He was only 44 when he took the job in Atlanta. Also, his coaching philosophy was ahead of its time. He made a barrage of three-point shots, fast break opportunities and basket attacks.

Mike Budenholzer’s return to Atlanta adds more fuel to the Suns

While the comeback must feel good for the Suns head coach, they know they have to take care of business. They are on a three-game winning streak, their longest as he goes 8-2 to start the year. Since then, there has been a flurry of injuries, rumors and everything in between.

At the start of the new year, the team made a shocking move. Before playing with the Philadelphia 76ers, Budenholzer revealed his reasons for benching the Suns for Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkic. The team is 3-1 since then. Beal’s role hasn’t diminished at all. He’s grown more than he has all season.

Despite the small sample size, it is important to note that there was increased camaraderie on the field. There is a clear indication of who will handle the ball, who will lead and who will score. Moreover, Beal has scored 25+ points on over 50% shooting from the field in two of those games.

Going back to Budenholzer, this has been one of his most challenging seasons. Even with an offensively gifted Big 3, there was an issue of synergy. The first-year Suns coach has made a major adjustment to try to pick up some wins. So far, his move has worked. However, he was not the most popular among some.

A player with a $50 million contract coming off the bench is not ideal. However, winning heals many things, and Budenholzer knows that like the back of his hand. He only had two losing seasons as a head coach, with his first and last seasons with the Hawks, respectively.

The Suns will be hoping to start the trip with a win

With the longest road trip of the season about to begin, the team is building momentum from its short home stand. They won all three games, including Sunday, which was back-to-back. Fortunately, there won’t be any on this trip. They will be able to spend the night in cities like Cleveland and Detroit.

Still, Budenholzer’s homecoming will be something fun to watch. Regardless, he and the rest of the team are concerned about winning.